ArtId Art Blog

Many of our ArtId members have gotten the same email from stanley.jackson326@gmail.com, Sheila Wedegis wrote about this in her blog November 2, http://artid.com/members/swedegis/blog/post/4824-scam-going-around. Shame on these people for scamming artists, of all people. All our members at one time or another get a bogus email from some scam person wanting to ___buy___ their work for a new residence or some such thing. These emails are always littered with bad spelling and grammar. Who is bogus and who is real?

Fine Art America has compiled a database of known scammer email addresses and/or names that you can search to see if your message is a scammer.
Clint Watson stated, ___This searchable database of known art scammers is made available to artists as a public service of FineArtStudioOnline. The email and IP addresses in this database are added when the FASO system, using various metrics and algorithms applied across the thousands of artist websites that we host, determines that the person is a likely scammer. If the person is a scammer, he/she is added to this art scammer database.
If you receive a suspicious message, feel free to check it against this database, free of charge.

Save this link! http://fineartstudioonline.com/art-scam/ and check it whenever you get a message that you feel is not legitimate. Even if it reports that this person is not a know scammer, exercise caution. As always you can e-mail support@artid.com and we will be happy to check for you.

I, too, have been approached by Charles Turk and another individual with the same scam. Recently I have been approached by The Artists Alley Gallery in San Francisco but have not been able to verify the viability of this organization either through the SF Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau or Tax Assistance. I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who has had dealings with this group.

"Hello,
I was just about to make the payments when i had this little problem with the picking up of the artwork , I am currently on sea and i am buying the artwork for my Dad as i explained earlier on and i tried to book pick up with my pick up agent, but they asked me to pay first before they can make the booking, and they only accept Western Union Money Transfer for payments and they don't accept pay-pal or Bank transfer and I tried to send the money online but i couldn't and I am on sea and there is no way i can find a western union agent to make the transfer to my pick up agent, so i wanted to ask if it was ok for me to include my pick up agent's fees in the payments I am about to send through pay-pal, my pick up agent charged $250 plus insurance and all of that, please can i include their money in the payments I want to send then after i have made the payments you will help me forward the $250 to my pick up agent through western union money transfer , I would have done this myself and not bother you but the fact that I am currently on sea, so after I have made the payments you will help me send $250 to my pick up agent through western union money transfer, I just wanted to seek your consent before going ahead with the payments,I will more than appreciate if you mail me back, and I will be making the payments shortly.
Thanks and God bless.
PS: the shipping company's Head quarters is in Nigeria and any pick up fees to be paid is sent to their head quarters by the payee, so the money for pick up will be sent to their head quarters in Nigeria through western union money transfer (this can be done from any post office).
@@

I was just so excited that someone was interested in my art work. I was very lucky that I looked into this before doing anything really stupid. The person who tried to scam me was Anna Smerthon and she wanted to add 200.00 to the price of my paintings and send it to her at western union as she had to pay the shipper up front and they would not accept any other type of payment but cash!!!!

Yes, I also was scammed by Charles Turk. And I also am waiting for my check. It is an old scam, though I haven't contacted it through the art world before. They really do have an eye for the main chance, don't they.

Re: The scammers who prey on artists who want and need to sell their work become the victim in more ways than one.
Usually the scammer sends you a counterfeit check which is made to look like a cashier's check.
It's made on an obscure bank in Florida for example. The sum will always be for more than the sale amount.
Now they say they are sorry but it was the only amount they could make it out in or similar excuse.
They then ask for your trust and ask if you could possibly send them the difference,
usually $1000 to $2000. You agree, (after all you want to make a sale).
They ask you again for your trust saying they trusted you by sending more money.
and to send them back the difference via Western Union. WU is untraceable once the scammer
gets the cash from WU
The scammer wants you to deposit the check and because it is a cashiers check your bank will give you instant credit.
Then they send you an eMail saying please hurry they need the money. After all you have the cash in your bank account.
Next day or two the check bounces, you have sent them $$$ in cash, you are overdrawn, the Fraud Department at the
bank closes your account and you are accused of FRAUD, you must pay the money back and you cannot open another
business bank account ever because you deposited a fraudulent check.
First steps if it comes to that:
Note: If you take a suspicious check to your bank and they tell you if it bounces it will only cost you a fee of $10.
DO NOT DEPOSIT IT! YOU will be accused of fraud no matter what!
It's your responsibility even if a bank officer says it's OK.
1. Do not deposit the check!
2. Do not ship your artwork!
3. Hold the check up to the light and see if there is a watermark. Most times there is none.
4. Next, look up the banks phone number and call their fraud officer.
5. The fraud officer will ask you to fax a likness of the check front and back and for your phone number.
6. The fraud officer will call you back to say it is or isn't good.
7. If it isn't good make copies of all correspondence, contact your local FBI field office, tell an agent your
Internet fraud story and send the copies to him/her. You never hear from them but it feels good.
8 The scammer will keep urgently urging you to send them their money.
9. Tell the scammer you have contacted the FBI and you'll never hear from them again. At least not that one!
If the check is good, be happy!

Just got a possible sale and it sounds just like Mr. Jackson. Except now his name is johnphillip77@yahoo.com. I haven't gone through with any thing- It'sjust toooo similar. He's an oceanographer, he said God Bless, and bad grammer. This Makes me very sad.

Millie, et all. The fact that no one got fleeced (I hope) does make it "a good thing". Never before have ArtId members emailed us this much or talked to each other this much. I find that very encouraging and hope that artists will continue to exchange comments and information. I would suggest that all ArtId members join LinkedIn and join our LinkedIn group, ArtId Visual Arts Community.It's a great forum and you get an email every time someone leaves a post so you don't miss anything!
Give it a try.

Mary, you are so right. I shall remember to send you an e-mail and find out if it is good. Maybe this happening was a good thing, as it puts us more aware to scammers. thank you for this advice. Millie

Seems as though Mr. Jackson is upset that artists are not willing to mail him a painting AND $1,300.00 in cash to pay for the shipping. These types of scams have been going on for years. Annie Steiner almost got stung by one of these guys in 2008 http://artid.com/members/AnnieSteiner/blog/post/1173-alert-to-all-artists-watch-out-for-extortion-schemes. The language of the email is almost always the same, they are "somewhere" they can't get access to shipping or Pay Pal and they are always overseas, never in the US.
Sadly, they change their name and send out new emails under another email address, change the circumstances a bit and they are off to hook someone else.
Fine Art America wouldn't have started a data base if it weren't a problem.
I had no idea of the extent of this man's flood of emails to ArtId members until yesterday when I posted the blog. At my last count this morning, 45 (that I know of) members were approached by this guy.
They prey on artists because artists are so eager for a sale they jump at the chance. When you get these kind of "odd" emails, please, ask us first or go to FAA scam database before you reply.

You people are misunderstanding me...Am not a scammer... can't you understand. Did anyone report to you that i scam him or her... I haven't scam anybody and why are you people calling me a scammer. I hate this shit hun. Okay

I have recently been entertained by Mr. Jackson (or whatever his name is). He isn't even good! I am waiting for the punchline about how he can't access my PayPal account so please wire the money for the shipping...
Good tips for avoiding these folks! And, I always consider something my mother said when I was growing up: "If it seems to good to be true, it probably is!"

What Do You Think? Leave a comment!

Name

Email

URL

Message

Code Check

Verification — Please type in the code you see in the image above. This helps us defeat automated programs that try to post "comment spam" (unwanted advertisements).